


igniting body and soul

by rawnbones4 (iKain2)



Category: Paragon (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Epic Games Please Add More In-Game Lore!, Fan Theory Expansion, I Took Some Liberties I Hope You Don't Mind, Multi, Neo Noir Elements, Omeda: The Mostly Lawless Mining Frontier, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Ying Mei Cartel Is Terrifying, headcanons galore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:40:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9118141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iKain2/pseuds/rawnbones4
Summary: The stars, like men, have their secrets. (Gideon is not his true name.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I did not know that Paragon lore suggests that Gideon is an evil bastard, but now I do. **_*cackles*_**

The sole waystation on Omeda was a hive of abhorrent depravity unparalleled by the few slums on its sibling moons, Zechin and Letha. The atmosphere was choked with thick black clouds of noxious pollution from the towering mining refineries crammed all over the moon’s surface, slowly but surely covering everything and everyone in a gritty layer of ashy grime that only ever washed away after a storm of acidic rain. The sun’s light rarely pierced through the hazy fog, keeping the waystation in a perpetual state of midnight that could only be lit up through artificial streetlights and the occasional burning oil-drum.

In addition to squeezing a population consisting mostly of bloodthirsty gangs, poverty-stricken minority species, and discarded robots within an area of roughly 350 square miles, the outskirts of Omeda also served as an official supermax prison for the most notoriously violent criminals in all of Agora. Located right next to the Omeda Police Department block, almost a million imprisoned murderers, rapists, slavers – just to name a few – did their allotted time on hard metal benches under constant surveillance until it was the day they would be released back into the bowels of Omeda’s criminal underworld.

The flat heels of Lt. Belica’s steel-toed boots clacked against the floor as she turned the corner, taking in the seemingly endless rows of howling prisoners stuck inside their cells with impassive eyes. With her rifle secured to her back, she kept one hand on her sidearm, just in case.

“Too bad the Ashur don’t much like the death penalty. Could’a saved a lot of space and money just by gettin’ rid of ‘em instead of just kickin’ them out after a while.” To her left, her smart-mouthed subordinate, Murdock, casually sneered at the various humans and non-humans stuck in their solitary cells.

Lt. Belica gave the man a withering stare. “Do not make me regret hiring you, Murdock.”

“Alright, alright. Don’t need to start ridin’ on my ass, Lieutenant.” The black man’s lips twisted into a lopsided grin.

Lt. Belica refrained from rolling her eyes as she passed by another cell. A flash of purple in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she immediately turned back around with her hand clenching the grip of her sidearm. To her side, Murdock quickly snapped into attention as he cocked his plasma shotgun and leveled it at the inmate responsible for the blatant show of energy – an offense punishable by a quick trip to the Warden for “reeducation.” 

The robed man sitting uncannily still in the center of his small cell shifted forward slightly, his hands casually bracing against his thighs. Although his hood cast most of his face into a deep shadow, the smirk was clearly visible.

“Oops. My bad.”

Even standing behind the containment field at the front of the cell, Lt. Belica could see the perfectly circular holes in the man’s bare hands and feet. The lieutenant barely reigned in her impulse to shudder at the sheer _wrongness_ the man exuded.

“Inmate I.C.—280.1.3.” Lt. Belica’s eyes narrowed. “Did you just discharge your energy as an act of aggression towards an officer of the OPD?”

The inmate shrugged a shoulder. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

“D’you want to see _Old Saint Rik_? ‘Cause with the way you’re runnin’ your mouth, it wouldn’t be too much a problem to get ya over there right now.” Murdock stepped forward, leering as he tightened his grip on his shotgun.

Lt. Belica grabbed Murdock’s shoulder and shoved him back a step. Any protest the man would have voiced promptly died at the icy warning his superior aimed at him. The _let me handle this_ was left unspoken as Lt. Belica stepped forward to assess the inmate’s threat level.

The man’s head tilted slightly to the side, subtly mocking her curiosity. Lt. Belica finally locked gazes with the inmate, and for a split second all of the hairs at the back of her neck stood up as those dark eyes – like twin pools of endless voids that consumed indiscriminately – burned right through every one of her psychological defenses.

The horrifying feelings of **_DANGER_** and **_WRONG_** crawling through her psyche, burdening her mind with the weight of irrational fears, disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared. Lt. Belica blinked furiously to rid herself of the burning sensation that had taken over her eyes. She turned to address Murdock with a tight frown, “It seems the first part to your department training will be on how to secure a caster-class inmate. Do you have your static cuffs?

“Yes I do, Lieutenant.” The man spared a wary glance at the inmate, who was still smirking unnervingly as if he did not care about the extra punishment that he’d just gotten.


End file.
